Request modification for transparent capacity management in a carrier network

摘要

Some embodiments provide a capacity management agent that modifies content requests to adjust bandwidth consumption when streaming requested content from a content provider to a requesting user. The modifications include modifying a URL or header information of the request. The agent performs a process that receives a request for content of a content provider. The process identifies a parameter of the carrier network and modifies the request when the parameter satisfies a threshold. The process passes the request to the content provider and the content provider provides content that consumes a first set of resources in response to an unmodified request and a second set of resources in response to a modified request. When the parameter identifies congestion, the first set of resources is greater than the second set of resources. When the condition parameter identifies underutilization, the first set of resources is less than the second set of resources.

主权项

1. For a first data network that provides users with access to data from a second external data network, a computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a request that originates from a user operating within the first data network, the request identifying requested content and a source for the requested content, wherein the source is accessible from the second external data network; determining utilization of the first data network; modifying said request when utilization of the first data network exceeds a specified level; and passing said request to the second external data network for delivery to the source, wherein the source provides a first encoding of the requested content in response to an unmodified request and a second encoding of the requested content in response to a modified request, wherein the first encoding utilizes more resources of the first data network than the second encoding for delivering said content to the user.